Lord Alli: Labour donor at centre of Starmer freebies row under Lords investigation

The Labour peer at the centre of a row over donations to Sir Keir Starmer is under investigation by the Lords' standards watchdog.

Lord Waheed Alli is facing a probe over "alleged non-registration of interests", leading to a possible breach of the members' code of conduct.

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The UK parliament website notes that the British businessman, who is one of the Labour Party's biggest donors and the largest personal donor to the prime minister since December 2019, is being investigated for potential breaches to codes 14(a) and 17.

These are rules requiring members to make clear what their interests are that might be reasonably thought to influence their parliamentary actions, and ensuring entries are up to date.

It is understood that the investigation doesn't relate to donations but rather a clerical element of already declared interests.

The Lords' Commissioner declined to give further comment.

A Labour spokesperson said: "Lord Alli will cooperate fully with the Lords' Commissioner and he is confident all interests have been registered. We cannot comment further while this is ongoing."

Who is Lord Alli?

Lord Alli has found himself in the headlines in recent weeks, after scrutiny over the tens of thousands of pounds he has given to his party's MPs to cover clothes, holidays and work events.

According to data unveiled by Sky News's Westminster Accounts project, he gave Sir Keir over £39,000 in gifts and hospitality over the course of the last parliament.

This year alone, the prime minister has received nearly £19,000 worth of work clothes and several pairs of glasses from Lord Alli as well as £20,000 worth of accommodation.

Sir Keir said this was to allow his son to study for his GCSEs in peace at the former TV executive's central London flat while the family home was surrounded by media during the general election.

He has argued Lord Alli was motivated to help financially because he wanted Labour to win the campaign.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have also received donations used for purchasing clothes by the long-standing Labour peer, while Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson accepted £14,000 for work events around her 40th birthday.

While these donations had been declared by those involved, Conservatives have accused ministers of being part of a "government of self-service".

Labour has also faced accusations of hypocrisy, having accused the Tories of "sleaze" and vowing to clean up politics if they got into government.

Sir Keir, Ms Reeves and Ms Rayner announced they are no longer going to accept donations to pay for clothes following the backlash.

The controversy overshadowed the party's first annual conference since taking power and was cited by Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield as one of the reasons she resigned the whip on Saturday in protest against the leadership.

'We need answers'

Lord Alli is the former chairman of online fashion retailer Asos who worked as the party's chief fundraiser for the general election.

He has donated to Labour for 20 years, and was ennobled by Tony Blair in 1998.

The SNP welcomed the investigation, saying the "scandal has wrecked public confidence in Keir Starmer, his government and the Westminster system, and there must be full transparency and accountability".

But they called for further enquiries into all the donations made by Lord Alli and the granting of a Downing Street security pass, which the government has said was temporary so he could attend political meetings.

The SNP's Cabinet Office spokesman Brendan O'Hara said: "Voters are appalled that Labour ministers have been lining their pockets with more than £800,000 of luxury designer clothes, holidays, hospitality and donations, while imposing painful austerity cuts on the rest of us, and they want to know what donors were getting in exchange.

"We need answers - including why these gifts were taken, whether there have been breaches of the MPs and ministerial code, and why Lord Alli was handed a security pass to the halls of power."

(c) Sky News 2024: Lord Alli: Labour donor at centre of Starmer freebies row under Lords investigation